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Best Buy Considers Entering The Used Game Market

If you want to trade in your games now, your options are fairly limited. But Best Buy wants to change all that.

In addition to the corporate rumors that Best Buy may be interested in purchasing GameStop, another interesting tidbit has arisen out of this discussion. According to The Wall Street Journal, Best Buy CFO Ryan Robinson stated that his company hasn't tapped into the used game market, and this is definitely holding them back. Robinson calls used games a "very margin-rich portion" of the market and said there's "opportunity in that business." They may embark on this endeavor rather than attempting to acquire GameStop because as BloggingStocks.com points out, Best Buy would need $4.2 billion to make the purchase and they quite simply don't have that kind of cash. They also wouldn't see a return on that investment "any time soon," so perhaps Best Buy is better off simply taking a cue from the competition. There's no secret that GameStop has profited greatly from used game sales, although publishers aren't too happy about the practice. Sell it once, everyone gets the rewards; sell it more than once, only GameStop benefits.

But that's why Best Buy wants in, of course. So don't be surprised if you suddenly see a trade-in policy for video games at your local store.

Comments (43 posts)

Its true indeed that game stop prifits GREATLY, perhaps a little too much. But im seeing this as a good thing, if best buy do go into the used games business, gamestop will have some competition. Perhaps better deals will arise...Lets all cross our fingers @(^__^)@Last edited by Milo on 9/22/2009 11:04:12 AM

I dont think i would like it if Best Buy bought out gamestop. I would like to see best buy use used game deals that would be a huge plus for best buy. Used games is great though. Usually at the end of september i trade in almost all my 2008 games which is about 8-9 games and gamestop usually has a add like trade in 4 games and get an extra 20.00 so with 8 games im getting like 200.00 in credit towards new games.

I don't see how this could be a bad idea, GameStop is pure evil in my opinion. Its frustrating to hear about others exchanging their expensive games in there for 20 dollars off a new game, ect. I frequent Ebay where the games flourish and the prices are consistently lower than any store.

Adding competition to the used game market can only be good for consumers, so bring it on for those who trade games. I don't buy/play enough games to warrant trading them in IMO. I buy a limited number of games and usually play them until they are next to worthless to trade in. I'd rather keep an old game on the chance of going back and playing through it someday than get a tiny portion of what I paid back.

hahaha, i held on to haze and people say its crap. I find it decent enough to hold on to. I do have a bunch of games i dont play anymore like assassin's creed or virtua fighter 5. Its not like im not trading them in because i like them, i just dont like the feeling of being screwed by gamestop. I remember asking them how much Marvel vs. Capcom 2 would get me just to check. Told me 30 bucks while a copy they're selling is 70 or so bucks. when you can see it like that in their store, i would feel like a dumbass if i traded in any games.

I still have lots of old games from my Atari and Amiga, all they do is eat into my storage space as they gather dust, true gamer or not, I should have sold them years ago. I predict they will continue to gather dust and remain unused until they end up in the bin when I die or some time before then.

I hear you John, I've found Ebay to be a tremendous outlet when I find myself with a game I no longer want. I can still remember when I bought Rogue Galaxy and just couldn't get into the game. I ended up selling it on Ebay 3 months after buying it at full price at GameStop. Thanks to Ebay it only ended up costing me 8 dollars to play the game for 3 months. Had I returned the game to GameStop they surely would of given me a worse deal as they've attempted to do to me throughout the years.

I'd like to see some one give Gamestop and their ilk a reason to compete for our business. But Best Buy needs to sit down an figure out if they are going to price below Gamestop or just above. Best Buy is supposed to mean the best buy. They have a hush hush policy that states they will match or beat any competitors prices if you ask them to price match but everytime I ask customer service the managers throw a fit if they actually have to match it. Best Buy over prices many of their movies and cd's and they hate it when they actually have to price match.Last edited by Jawknee on 9/22/2009 1:22:35 PM

Ooo no this crap again first is disney buying marvel for the same price of 4 billion and now best buy might wanna buy gamestop for a used game profits......idk they could pull it off.......of topic since disney bought marvel next kingdom hearts 3 worse battle ever hulk vs sephiroth lmao I know I'm gonna get like infinite thumbs down lmao

Damn, I see it like Best Buy and GameSTOP are two f*ckin huge killer whales and the Devs are the dead seal being tossed around between them. Everyone wins but the seal...Last edited by Wage SLAVES on 9/22/2009 2:05:32 PM

Just like the cash in my pocket these games come and go I trade and buy when a game is old and I want a new one, its not like its an investment in my future its a short piece of entertainment and I just trade up when a better game (not just a sequel) comes out. I know that devs are pissed at the traders out there but hey same way your titles need to meet a budget so do our wallets, sorry for the hit devs but we've all gotta make ends meet ^_^

What I do when I buy USED in Gamestop.. I'll pick up let's say Guitar Hero 5 for $54.99 used. The receipt says you can return your used (pre owned) game in 7 days. To me, that's cheaper than renting. When my 7 days are up.. I return Guitar Hero 5 and am refunded every penny. Been doing this for awhile xD

The best buy thing.. if 54.99 used in Gamestop for a "latest" it'll be quite difficult to drop that. Maybe 51.99 for best buy. But how much will we get for trade ins????

Game wanted to give me 1euro for NFS:Pro Street, I went and looked on the shelf and they had another copy of it out for 19euro...thats a huge profit! No way was I trading in for that, rather keep it and let it collect dust then bend over for Game!

I've been hearing the same crap everywhere I go "why be so cheap and by used games anyway" and its getting on my damned nerves, look eventually devs are going to find a way to get in on used games and in the meantime don't rag on gamers who buy used! Its legit we like to save money! Who the fuck doesn't??? I just hate when people act like they have it all figured out and jump on a hate bandwagon, so put your fingers down and let me and my gaming recycling go!

you think thats bad.i bought fear 2 for 120 AUD EB has a policy return in 7 days for full refund.so on the 6th day i rang eb and said look i have to work is it ok i bring it on sunday (the 8th day) and the guy said thats fine as long as its this store just mention you spoke to me.so i did and they would not accept it, i could only trade it in and guess how much they gave me.40 bucks.40 friggin bucks and guess how much their charging for it used.110.absolute rip off, there making a 70 dollar profit.this is exactly why i refuse to trade in games or buy them used.i would rather hurt myself than feed those greedy bastards

check out this site http://www.psbeyond.com/features/Tokyo-Games-Show-2009.1199.htmlaccording to them twisted metal will be at TGS this year.i find that hard to believe since david said hes game wont be announced till E3 2010 at the earliest, but hey anything can happen.real or typo?